2 months ago
By Jennifer Rigby
LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in Uganda is over but it is not under control in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, a World Health Organization official told a briefing on Wednesday.
The all-clear for Uganda follows a declaration on July 28 from the Ugandan government that it was free of the disease, which caused 20 cases and two deaths in the country.
The WHO monitored the situation until this week to ensure that no chains of transmission had been missed.
But Dr Marie Roseline Belizaire, director of emergency preparedness for the WHO African region, told a WHO regional meeting that cases in Democratic Republic of Congo continued to rise despite some progress. The outbreak there is the second-deadliest in history, and outpacing containment efforts.
#rigby #london
LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in Uganda is over but it is not under control in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, a World Health Organization official told a briefing on Wednesday.
The all-clear for Uganda follows a declaration on July 28 from the Ugandan government that it was free of the disease, which caused 20 cases and two deaths in the country.
The WHO monitored the situation until this week to ensure that no chains of transmission had been missed.
But Dr Marie Roseline Belizaire, director of emergency preparedness for the WHO African region, told a WHO regional meeting that cases in Democratic Republic of Congo continued to rise despite some progress. The outbreak there is the second-deadliest in history, and outpacing containment efforts.
#rigby #london
2 months ago
Gus Kenworthy proposed to Andrew Rigby during a trip to Mallorca, Spain, they exclusively tell PEOPLE
The couple went public with their relationship in 2024 and have since shared glimpses of their romance on social media
Kenworthy recently came out of retirement to compete in the 2026 Milan Olympics, where Rigby supported him throughout
Gus Kenworthy and Andrew Rigby are engaged!
The four-time Olympic freestyle skier, 34, proposed to his fashion executive partner while they vacationed off the coast of Mallorca on Tuesday, Aug. 4, the couple exclusively tell PEOPLE.
#kenworthy #people
The couple went public with their relationship in 2024 and have since shared glimpses of their romance on social media
Kenworthy recently came out of retirement to compete in the 2026 Milan Olympics, where Rigby supported him throughout
Gus Kenworthy and Andrew Rigby are engaged!
The four-time Olympic freestyle skier, 34, proposed to his fashion executive partner while they vacationed off the coast of Mallorca on Tuesday, Aug. 4, the couple exclusively tell PEOPLE.
#kenworthy #people
3 months ago
While the attention of many football fans has been on the World Cup in North America, the winning goal in a match much closer to home and involving a Powerchair Football team from Leeds has gone viral, being seen - so far - by nearly 40 million people worldwide.
The spectacular ******* ist which recently helped Leeds Powerchair FC score their third goal against Teesside PFC, and which saw the West Yorkshire club crowned FA Disability Cup winners, has since gained global attention.
The goal - dubbed by one newspaper as "Maradona-like" - saw Leeds PFC player Dylan Kelsall producing a 360-degree turn and pass before attacker Dan Rigby, 22, nudged the ball off his powerchair to score.
"I've enjoyed reading the names. Some have said Maradona. My personal favourite was Andreas Iniesta. It's great, why not?" smiles Kelsall.
The player, a member of England's Powerchair Football senior team, says the clip has gone "absolutely crazy".
The spectacular ******* ist which recently helped Leeds Powerchair FC score their third goal against Teesside PFC, and which saw the West Yorkshire club crowned FA Disability Cup winners, has since gained global attention.
The goal - dubbed by one newspaper as "Maradona-like" - saw Leeds PFC player Dylan Kelsall producing a 360-degree turn and pass before attacker Dan Rigby, 22, nudged the ball off his powerchair to score.
"I've enjoyed reading the names. Some have said Maradona. My personal favourite was Andreas Iniesta. It's great, why not?" smiles Kelsall.
The player, a member of England's Powerchair Football senior team, says the clip has gone "absolutely crazy".
4 months ago
By Jennifer Rigby and Ammu Kannampilly
LONDON/NAIROBI, June 15 (Reuters) - The United States is spending almost $25,000 every month to store contraceptives in Belgium that were originally bought for use in poorer nations but are now mainly unusable, according to a report from officials reviewed by Reuters.
Around $9.7 million worth of contraceptives, including implants and pills, have been stuck in a Belgian warehouse since January last year, when the U.S. first froze foreign aid. The stock could have helped prevent millions of unwanted pregnancies and saved lives, aid sources have said.
Between January 2025 and March of this year, storing and transporting the stock has cost $360,667, according to the report from the Office of the Inspector General for the now-dismantled U.S. Agency for International Development.
The report also said that storing the contraceptives is still costing $24,550 every month.
LONDON/NAIROBI, June 15 (Reuters) - The United States is spending almost $25,000 every month to store contraceptives in Belgium that were originally bought for use in poorer nations but are now mainly unusable, according to a report from officials reviewed by Reuters.
Around $9.7 million worth of contraceptives, including implants and pills, have been stuck in a Belgian warehouse since January last year, when the U.S. first froze foreign aid. The stock could have helped prevent millions of unwanted pregnancies and saved lives, aid sources have said.
Between January 2025 and March of this year, storing and transporting the stock has cost $360,667, according to the report from the Office of the Inspector General for the now-dismantled U.S. Agency for International Development.
The report also said that storing the contraceptives is still costing $24,550 every month.
4 months ago
By Emma Farge, Jennifer Rigby and Clement Bonnerot
NAIROBI/LONDON/DAKAR, June 17 (Reuters) - Health workers battling an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo lack the personnel to identify suspected cases, the ambulances to transport them and even the construction materials to build isolation wards, officials and aid workers told Reuters.
A month after the World Health Organization declared an international emergency, the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain has grown to more than 800 confirmed cases, with warnings mounting that it could become the worst on record — surpassing the 2014-16 West Africa epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people.
Health teams are so stretched that tens of thousands of contacts of those cases remain untraced, Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters, pointing to insecurity and the urban, mining-heavy setting of the outbreak as central obstacles.
"After four weeks we have an outbreak in an urban area where there is insecurity, where there is this mining and trade activity, and also where we are not reaching all the people who must be in the contact list," he said late on Tuesday.
NAIROBI/LONDON/DAKAR, June 17 (Reuters) - Health workers battling an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo lack the personnel to identify suspected cases, the ambulances to transport them and even the construction materials to build isolation wards, officials and aid workers told Reuters.
A month after the World Health Organization declared an international emergency, the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain has grown to more than 800 confirmed cases, with warnings mounting that it could become the worst on record — surpassing the 2014-16 West Africa epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people.
Health teams are so stretched that tens of thousands of contacts of those cases remain untraced, Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters, pointing to insecurity and the urban, mining-heavy setting of the outbreak as central obstacles.
"After four weeks we have an outbreak in an urban area where there is insecurity, where there is this mining and trade activity, and also where we are not reaching all the people who must be in the contact list," he said late on Tuesday.
4 months ago
By Jennifer Rigby and Mariam Sunny
June 3 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the world is "catching up" with the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, where there have been 344 confirmed cases of the disease and 60 confirmed deaths, although challenges remain.
"The outbreak had a big head start, and we're still behind, but under the leadership of the government of DRC, we're catching up," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing.
The outbreak, linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, has spread to neighbouring Uganda where 15 cases have been confirmed, including one death, the agency said.
Access to testing has also improved, which is why hundreds of cases that were initially suspected as Ebola have now been ruled out, the WHO said. The most common tests used for Ebola do not detect the Bundibugyo strain causing this outbreak, which had caused a backlog.
June 3 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the world is "catching up" with the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, where there have been 344 confirmed cases of the disease and 60 confirmed deaths, although challenges remain.
"The outbreak had a big head start, and we're still behind, but under the leadership of the government of DRC, we're catching up," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing.
The outbreak, linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, has spread to neighbouring Uganda where 15 cases have been confirmed, including one death, the agency said.
Access to testing has also improved, which is why hundreds of cases that were initially suspected as Ebola have now been ruled out, the WHO said. The most common tests used for Ebola do not detect the Bundibugyo strain causing this outbreak, which had caused a backlog.
